In recent years, more attention has been given to organic EL elements using the phenomenon of electroluminescence occurring in organic material. An organic EL element includes organic functional layers inserted between an upper electrode and a lower electrode, and is manufactured by layering the lower electrode, one or more organic functional layers, and the upper electrode in this order on a substrate.
There have been known various formation methods for the lower electrode, the organic functional layers and the upper electrode. In order to form the upper electrode, film-forming methods such as a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, a spray method, and a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method are used. In particular, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for forming the upper electrode by a facing target sputtering method.